


Runaway Train

by No_Hugs_Peach



Series: Runaway Train [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Ectopic Pregnancy, F/M, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I wrote this instead of therapy, Ignore the Aliens - They didn't happen in my fanon, Not Canon Compliant, Original Side Characters for Depth, Secret Relationship, Team 10, if they made good choices there would be no story, seriously that tag is to be taken seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:40:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/No_Hugs_Peach/pseuds/No_Hugs_Peach
Summary: After the Fourth Shinobi War, life was resuming and the Villages were coming together to preserve the peace they established in crisis.Gaara has a responsibility to his Village, to be a better Kage than his predecessors. Ino has a responsibility to her clan, to work to strengthen their bonds across the Villages. With the future looming so large, they steal what they can of the present but they can’t keep running forever.
Relationships: Gaara/Yamanaka Ino
Series: Runaway Train [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992820
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Runaway Train

_Everybody wants to change the world  
_ _But no one, no one  
_ _Wants to die_

MCR: Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)

* * *

January 20th

Ino took a deep breath as she walked the familiar path to the training grounds. She was still in awe at the changes. A few months after the war ended life in Konoha was starting to return to normal. Yamato and the First Hokage had worked together to rebuild large swathes of the village before the kinjutsu was released, and civilians who had relocated due to the war were either heading home or deciding to settle down where they had landed. Looking around the village one could almost forget that Konoha had been decimated mere weeks before the war began.

Weddings and betrothals were moving forward with lightning speed, genin teams were starting to form, and the Kages were coming for a Summit. The first Summit of a new year. Ino had caught a glimpse of the Kazekage and his entourage arriving as she escorted her charges past the gate.

The Kazekage stood out with his dark red hair, he always seemed to catch Ino’s eye, and she wondered if he was as aloof as he seemed from a distance. She tried not to think too much about him, or his siblings for that matter. They were all within a few years of each other, but it seemed they had accomplished so much more than Ino.

She was strong, she had trained to earn the respect of her clan and her coworkers. She worked with Shikamaru and Chouji to push the limits of their formations, further than any Ino-Shika-Cho before. She threw her soul farther than any Yamanaka in history, without losing herself, and had taken over a partial jinchuuriki without breaking a sweat. But that wasn’t showy, not the way that Sakura crushed boulders or the Kazekage manipulated battlefields. It was truly shadow work - if she did everything right, you’d never know she was there. Something she had to remind the cadets when they insisted that they would rather work on their taijutsu than the clan techniques.

* * *

It wasn’t until two days later that she thought of him again. Shikamaru and Chouji were set to join her for lunch, then Shikamaru asked if she didn’t mind cooking for three more.

Like the three weren’t the Kazekage and his siblings.

So Ino had agreed - if Shikamaru wanted to act like bringing the Kazekage’s family to lunch was normal then she would make it normal.

She had successfully roped in her mother’s assistance with one of her signature dishes, an agreed upon barter with Shikamaru for covering a shift with Mirai for her later in the week, so what was a little extra help?

Kiku looked over the table, her soft brown eyes roving over each dish. She had clipped her platinum hair back, a deference to the fluffy bob she had recently decided would suit her. “Remember to-”

“I know, I know. Now scoot.” Ino waved her mother off as the food rested, before dashing upstairs to freshen up before her guests arrived. It wouldn’t do for them to know how much she had scrambled at the last minute.

She combed through her long blonde hair, smoothing down the flyaways that had sprung free from the ponytail. She didn’t have time to redo the style, so she’d just have to make it look intentional. Her casual purple sweater and jeans were fine enough for the occasion, a simple lunch with friends. She tugged at the high neckline, arranging it just so. She swiped on a new coat of mascara, just a little extra umph to complete the outfit.

The food was gone, the beverages not far behind it. They were now in the living room, Temari having spotted some of the flower arrangements. It was nice to get to know people important to Shikamaru, after years of acting as Temari’s escort the two had become close. She liked the way they looked together, although both swore that there was nothing more to their relationship. Bullshit. Shikamaru wasn’t the type to invite other people to a Team 10 lunch. Not unless he wanted full team approval of someone. Ino figured it wasn’t the brothers that he wanted their opinion on.

Although the Kazekage seemed more relaxed than she had seen in the past. But that might have something to do with no longer being at the top of a wanted list or leading a war. He had joined the conversation easily enough, although not directly with her. She decided not to be offended, it wasn’t like she’d have been able to focus on what he was saying.

She’d felt his gaze linger on her, an interesting awareness. She knew guys looked at her, she made sure of that. But his gaze was different, a tingle of awareness shot through every time, and she had to fight the shiver of anticipation. The certainty that _something_ would happen helped tide her through the afternoon.

Despite the warm feeling in her chest, that told Ino to remember this moment and hold it tight, she was beginning to need some space. Just a bit of air to reorient, clear her head, but she couldn’t leave Shikamaru and Chouji to act as hosts for her.

The Kazekage must’ve noticed, she caught him looking at her again as she discussed with Temari the method of growing some of the more difficult blooms. Shikamaru and Kankurou then started debating the methods of automation for greenhouses, taking the human effort out of their care. Machinery and minimal effort, she was almost surprised they didn’t start looking over blueprints.

“Ino, would you mind showing me the greenhouse? You mentioned you had recently cultivated a moon cactus,” The Kazekage spoke lowly, apparently not wanting to draw attention from his siblings. Ino held in her surprise at his request, instead nodding as she stood.

“Sure, Kazekage-sama.” She motioned Gaara to follow her outside to their personal greenhouse. The air outside was crisp despite the jackets they donned, a light breeze blowing through the trees as they walked the dozen yards. They kept a clear distance, no accidental touching between them. She tried not to tap her fingers; his shoulders formed a perfect line. “The graft is still new; we’re waiting to transport it until it heals. Do you enjoy cacti?

“I grow my own, yes. You know, you can call me Gaara.” She cut her eyes to him, noting that despite the distance between them he kept his voice quiet.

“Sorry, it’s just we’ve never really spoken before. Aside from the times you were addressing my general area.” She gestured in front of herself for emphasis.

“Your general area?”

“Yeah, like the announcement of the Allied Shinobi Forces or my first Chuunin Exams.” At his puzzled look she elaborated, “I was in the stands.”

“Ah. Sorry.”

“You, ironically, were not the worst threat to me that day. So…” Ino lifted a shoulder as she opened the door. His rank put her on edge in a way the other guys didn’t, so she needed to keep a bit of space. Stop from making a fool of herself. “Over here is the desert region, you can see the non-mutant variants. But when this one turned out white, we grafted it onto a Hylocereus. I think we’ll be able to move it to the shop in two days for our client to pick up.”

Gaara followed her in, before leaning to look closely at the graft, “It’s coming along well. I look forward to taking it to Suna.”

“Of course you’re the client. You could’ve said something.”

“I’ve been looking for a white moon cactus for a while. Nara mentioned your family had recently grown one, so I wanted to put the order in before anyone else.” He shrugged slightly, “I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t handle the transaction. Although Tsunade-sama will be happy. She was disappointed we already had a buyer, muttered something about needing it for someone else.”

* * *

Over the next few days Gaara came over with Shikamaru and his siblings, their group had seemingly doubled – at least for a while. Each day he would ask to see the moon cactus to see the healing of the graft, they would then spend time discussing various flowers. After the first day, Ino had stopped keeping the distance between them quite as sharp. She still wanted to get her hands on him, find out if the perpetual awareness would intensify or evaporate, but she could restrain herself.

“If you’re this concerned about the graft, we could just transport it to your embassy. You have experience with both variants of cacti, and obviously you’d know the danger signs if the graft wasn’t taking.” Ino offered on the third day of this, as he once again examined the graft and seemed satisfied with its progress.

Gaara was silent a moment, he seemed to hesitate before answering, “It’s not just the graft, sometimes I need a break from the noise of my siblings. With everything that’s happened recently, I only get time to myself at night.”

“So, you ask to talk flowers with the most talkative kunoichi in Konoha,” she raised an eyebrow with a small laugh, “I get it. My siblings would hover over me too except they’ve been drafted by my parents in the flower shop. Shika, Chouji, and I have even taken shifts checking in on Kurenai and Mirai. She sees through it, her team is doing the same, but….”

“You realize the double standard, yes?”

“Like I said, we’re doing shifts.”

“Ah shifts, because that makes the constant hovering better.” Gaara’s dry tone caused Ino to crack a smile and shake her head.

“Well, she’ll get a break from my hovering for a while. I’ve got some upcoming shifts in the flower shop to stay busy.”

* * *

Gaara reviewed the paperwork in his office, getting the peace treaties and alliance paperwork signed took time. While Kages and Daimyos had cooperated for the war now that it was over some people – mainly the Daimyos - were pushing for things to go back to normal.

He doubted things would ever be truly normal again, but that didn’t change the paperwork in front of him. The various Daimyos were wanting their shinobi villages back under just them, they wanted to dissolve the Allied Shinobi Forces and would prefer to do so sooner than later. He made some notes in the margin, he needed to ensure Shukaku would not get resealed so long as he was Kazekage.

The knock on the door was a surprise, until he looked out the window and saw the gathering night. He invited them in, not surprised to see Kankurou entering with dinner. “No clan dinners tonight, so you’re stuck with what I made.”

“Is it going to kill me? Is it full of bean paste?” he took an exaggerated sniff, knowing that Kankurou took pride is in his cooking.

“No and no. I’d be a pretty terrible bodyguard if I killed you.” Kankurou’s expression turned thoughtful, “Although I can think of a few people who would pay good money for a picture of you getting surprised with bean paste.”

“And then you’d be a pretty dead bodyguard.”

“Exactly, I take my job seriously.” He chuckled as he set the tray on a side table, “Any chance you plan on sleeping tonight or will I need to be ready to follow you?”

“I’ll head to the living area after I eat, no need to wait up. I just need to get these notes made.”

True to his word, Gaara went to the living quarters of the embassy after making notes on the proposed documents. And after making a good effort - solid three hours - of trying to wind down to go to sleep he gave up, tossed on some casual clothes, and went for a walk.

He didn’t bother waking Kankurou, and when the Anbu next to the door started to move with him Gaara dismissed her. If someone was going to come after him in Konoha there were much larger issues. He just wanted to take in the stillness of the night, Konoha was full of people and there was a comforting sort of quiet when most of the village was tucked at home.

He followed the edge of the building until he reached the main street, aside from stragglers returning home it was empty. He knew that soon the village would be full of gossip from the announcement - it was a fairly unusual alliance for them - and he wondered whether the public opinion would be good or bad.

Tsunade-sama was certain there would be push back but had agreed to the proposal allowing people to choose to participate. Personally, he figured there wouldn’t be enough volunteers for the first round that the organizers hoped for. But he had been wrong in the past. He was absorbed in his thoughts but felt the nearby chakra of two shinobi. Looking up he saw Ino and Sakura walking away from him down a side street.

“Tenten and I are going out tomorrow, you coming?”

“I can’t Sak, we’re got the clan meeting tomorrow. Something big if everyone is going to be there.” He could hear Ino from this distance if he listened closely.

“The nine of you isn’t that many.”

“No, _everyone_. All three clans. It’s why Shikamaru’s parents are hosting.” Gaara tempered his curiosity, soon enough they would know the reason for everything in the meantime he would just enjoy the quiet night.

* * *

The sun shining on her face was a welcome feeling after days of shifts in the hospital and the Torture and Interrogation offices. If Ino wasn’t mistaken, it was going to be another unseasonably warm day. Perfect for speeding up the meeting today, she knew that even smaller gatherings could get long-winded and she was impatient to find out what the big deal was. She arrived at the Nara compound with time to spare, greeting Shikamaru before detouring to the kitchen and helping herself to a glass of water on her way to the dining room. Inside almost everyone from all three clans was assembled, talking amongst themselves as people continued to arrive.

“What’s your money on?” She asked Chouji as she took a seat next to him, Shikamaru flanking her other side.

“Our moms are huddled together but my mom keeps shushing yours, so I can’t make out too much of what they’re saying.” He supplied, munching on a bag of chips, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say a clan head is getting married.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening any time soon.” Shikamaru snorted, “It probably has something to do with the Daimyo, after being guarded by a Kage he’s probably looking to reform the Twelve Guardian Shinobi.”

“Probably,” Ino agreed, “I wonder how the twelve get picked. I mean to be Anbu is to be the best in the village, but the twelve were better.”

“Asuma-sensei said something about an invitation. Not that different from an Anbu invite.”

Ino’s response was cut off by Inoichi calling them to order, his gruff voice cutting through the miscellaneous chatter. Finally, the time to find out the topic of discussion.

“As you are all aware, the current Kages are here in Konoha for a Kage Summit. To continue building peace within our communities, we are here to discuss alliances with clans across the villages.” He focused his gaze on them, “We look towards our youth, that they can build the bridges to a new future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy fucking shit I posted the first chapter!! <\- mature rating is so I can say _fuck_ in the notes as much as I want. :)
> 
> No, we're gonna get to the mature rating don't worry. We just have to get through a bit of them being idiots.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to check the tags, I'm adding as I go.


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